Reviewed for TheaterOnline.com By: Joyce Cutrone
It may not have been Broadway, but you could have fooled the audiences who were treated to a Broadway-caliber play quite a bit north of The Great White Way—at 3000 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx to be exact. Lehman High School students, teachers, staff, and administrators, under the direction of Fred McKinnon, delighted their audiences with the original musical murder mystery “Have No Mercy” on December 6th and 7th. The best part of the show was not that the actors were polished and professional (which they were) or its engaging plot (which drew you in) or even the catchy and comical musical tunes (which delighted); the best part of this play was that the cast of fifteen students and twenty faculty members all seemed to be having such a good time. In turn, the audience got a kick out of seeing their own Lehmanites in different roles and in a different light—the stage lights.
The theatrical evening started with the energetic students, now of Edgar Allen Poe High School, gathered in their chemistry class. The part of the severe, humorless (and short-lived) chemistry teacher, Ms. Stevens, was played to perfection by Monika Camovic, so much so that all of the students were shocked, but none heart-broken, when she keeled over in class while demonstrating an experiment. Soon there were four detectives on the case—two official and two unofficial. The official NYPD detectives were Ava Lourd and Harry Fink played by Margaret Duke and Anthony Cerini (coincidentally Lehman’s own Science A.P. and drama teacher). These two complemented each other beautifully as they sleuthed and sang their way through the play—Ms. Duke with her wonderful energy and exuberance and Mr. Cerini with his great ease and low-key, wry humor. The unofficial detectives were students Hershal Myerdink and Nancy Wright, portrayed by Matthew Sepulveda and Lisa-Marie Hunt. Matthew captured the intensity of a likeable high school kid obsessed with mysteries (perhaps because he IS a likeable high school kid), and Lisa-Marie was a natural as a shy, perceptive teenager with a secret crush on Hershal. This young actress possesses a beautiful voice, exquisitely revealed in her singing “Isn’t It Obvious“”
As the plot thickened, so did the laughs--not at the actual plot, but at the actors in their roles. Al Davino, by day Lehman’s polite and professional A.P. of Administration, did an about face and played the part of a swaggering, low-life janitor. Wally Bullock, an English teacher and Shakespeare specialist, proved he could charm an audience in a more “off-beat” role. His colleagues couldn’t help but giggle at his portrayal of the pathetic, jilted lover of the deceased. John Rader, who filled in at the last minute, did a pitch-perfect (well, Radar is a music teacher) job as an arrogant principal and Anna Silvers-Bartholemew was charming as the principal’s pretty little companion. Appropriately, the librarian, Mrs. Lewis, was played by Lehman’s A.P. for English, Karen Andronico. A natural comedienne, she inched on and off the stage several times to engage in very funny exchanges with the young sleuth Hershal. Lorraine Keegan, Lehman’s Parent Coordinator, had two small parts but she managed to steal the show as Ms. Stevens’ flirtatious landlady just serving tea. Additional strong performances were delivered by Jacqueline Smith as Marge Kitteridge, the deceased teacher’s friend, Chris Figueroa as Gerald Galante, a disgruntled student, and Richard Esposito as Lou Bolt, the school’s foolhardy dean.
The play, written by Fred McKinnon with music by Fred Lederman and lyrics by Alan Baboff, moved along at a steady pace, building the puzzle piece by piece with lively tunes interjected throughout. Some personal favorites were the students’ ironically “delighted” rendition of “The Teacher Is Dead” and their pleadingly pleasant “I Didn’t Do It,” as well as an odd assortment of teachers expounding on their pedagogical hardships with “You Said It . . . This Is Murder.” The multi-faceted set designs by Deidre Kenna, Rosemary Vargas and their stage crew were beautiful rendered and also added to the very professional feeling of the production.
